Let it Snow!
by Vaasth
Summary: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. A wish to Let it Snow ended up with the biggest White Christmas Domino has seen in years. For Yugi and his friends, the snowmen go to war, the nights are anything but silent, and the canes aren't made of candy. At least no one got run over by a reindeer.
1. All I Want for Christmas

_A/N: Happy Holidays!_ _Let it Snow_ _will be about 6 chapters in total, with the last one estimated to post on Christmas Day (hopefully). Enjoy!_

/Text/ Spirit to Host

 **/Text/** Host to Spirit

* * *

Chapter 1: _All I Want for Christmas…_

" _Grocers are seeing a run on paper goods, as well as milk and dry groceries as all of Domino prepares to hunker down for the largest snowstorm the area has seen in years. Some small businesses have already closed early in preparation for the snowfall that's expected to begin tomorrow and continue throughout the rest of the weekend. A record 36" are expected in some locations. Motorists are advised to make arrangements ahead of time to avoid the storm…"_

Mokuba Kaiba looked up from his position slouched on his brother's office couch and muted the television. "We're not going to get caught up in that, are we? You promised we would leave Domino for Christmas."

He was going to hold his older brother to that promise as well. The encounter with Dartz, and then the immediate jump into the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship Tournament and repairing the company image had taken its toll on them. Even after quelling the damage Zigfried had done to further destroy their image, Seto continued to work nonstop to get Kaiba Corp's numbers back to their former glory – a status they hadn't seen since the close of the Battle City Tournament.

There had been weeks at a time that he had barely even seen Seto. If it wasn't for the fact that he would get up in the morning for school and smell coffee in the kitchen every day, he never would have known his brother came home at night. Roland drove him to the café near the office after school every day to pick him up something to eat, because otherwise he was sure his brother survived on caffeine alone.

It certainly didn't help matters that _Kingdom Quest_ , the company's new virtual reality game, was releasing exclusively into Kaiba Land's virtual arcade this week, just in time for the holidays. Early critic reviews had so far been positive, but that didn't stop Seto from going nearly line by line in the game's programming to quadruple check for any glitches or abnormalities that just weren't there.

The lack of sleep and poor diet had already started to take its toll. It had taken a great deal of persuasion on both his and Roland's part to get Seto to agree to take the time off that was so desperately needed.

"I'm worried about you, Seto," Mokuba had said once during one of his food-delivering visits. "You look horrible. If you don't slow down and take a break, you're going to get really sick."

" _Kingdom Quest_ will be out soon," Seto had countered, "If there are _any_ issues with the gameplay, or with the new virtual pods installed in the park…"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Seto, you've gone over that how many times now? Our systems have been secured twice over. You're going to make yourself ill over nothing. I, for one, don't want to spend Christmas with a grumpy face. You promised we would spend the holidays together, remember? So far, I can count the number of times I've spent quality time with you this month on _one_ hand - with plenty of fingers to spare. That _stinks_. You owe me, big bro!"

This eventually led the young Kaiba to make arrangements for their arrival at their house up north, a good ways away from Domino City. It had been years since Mokuba had stayed there. It was the place Seto had retreated to after his first defeat to Yugi Muto, leaving the younger Kaiba temporarily alone at their mansion on the outskirts of Domino City. Originally belonging to Gozaburo, the second house was mostly used for entertaining while Noah was still alive, or so he had been told. He had only stayed at the house once.

Thankfully, with the upcoming weather, the house was far enough away from the bustling downtown that if Seto wanted to work, he would have to trudge his way back through the snow to get there. The vacation house was used so infrequently that any official documents or devices would have to be brought with them, and he had – by some miracle – gotten his brother to agree to leave the laptop at home.

Meanwhile, Seto put down the previous month's financial statement and leaned back in his high-backed chair. "I'm aware, Mokuba. The office is closing early tomorrow, and we're heading out right after. It wasn't _my_ idea to place the final department meeting of the year on the last possible day before the building is shut down."

"But the snow…what if it starts early?" asked Mokuba. Secretly, that was _exactly_ what he was hoping for – the sooner they got to their holiday destination, the better.

"It is supposed to start light and build up into the evening," said Seto, "The roads should still be fine for when we leave."

"Well, I can't wait!" said Mokuba, excitedly, "We haven't had a stress-free holiday in a long time, and I'm looking forward to going out in the snow." His eyes lit up. "Maybe we can make snow sculptures! Or have a snowball fight!"

Seto sighed. Christmas wasn't even a holiday they celebrated. Gozaburo made as little an effort as possible, unless he was entertaining foreign business partners. Only then did the mansion deck out in wreaths and tinsel and a large decorated tree was set up in the main foyer. But after their time in America, Mokuba had wanted to take part in the holiday, if at least once, so he would abide by his younger brother's request.

"What you're really asking for is to get yourself soaked in the cold and come down with a fever. That _can't_ be how you want to spend the week, especially as this trip was set up originally as an intervention."

Mokuba pouted. "Are you going to be a Grinch for the whole time?"

Seto paused. "I did _not_ just hear you compare me to a goblin in a children's story."

.

* * *

"Somehow, I thought this place would be busier," said Yugi, looking around the airport terminal, "Considering this is one of the last flights out to the United States before tomorrow's storm."

"I'm sure a lot of people left earlier or just decided not to go anywhere at all," said Grandpa Muto, "Are you sure you kids will be alright traveling home and roughing it for the holidays?"

"Don't sweat it, Gramps!" said Joey, "Remember the prize I won from that Duel Monsters Nationals tournament last month? We're goin' to be living the high life up at that swanky resort!"

"But Joey, I don't think you know the first thing about skiing," said Grandpa. "Or snowboarding, or whatever it is you kids do for winter sports these days."

Joey shrugged. "Eh. No biggie. I'm sure there's gonna be classes or somethin'. I'm just looking forward to getting out of town for a change. No monsters runnin' loose and no megalomaniacs to stop!"

"Getting out is something we're all looking forward to," Yugi grinned, "We'll take plenty of pictures for you, Grandpa!"

"Just be careful. I don't want you kids to be traveling right on the edge of this storm," said Grandpa, "Make sure to keep an emergency kit in the car and set out early, alright?"

"We promise, Grandpa," said Yugi, "Enjoy your visit with Professor Hawkins!"

Grandpa nodded. "I will!" He leaned over to whisper in Yugi's ear, snickering. "I'll even give Rebecca your regards!"

Yugi pulled a face at his grandfather as the other chuckled. "Grandpa!" He whirled around and glared at Joey, who was trying (and failing) at not laughing. Resigned, he covered his face with his palm. "She's just a friend, and you know that." _I'm never going to live this down._

"Ohoho, you know I'm just teasing," said Grandpa, ruffling Yugi's wild hair. "Besides, we all know you've been eyeing someone else, haven't you?"

"Eh?" Joey elbowed his best friend. "What are you holdin' out on me, pal?"

Just when he thought it was safe to look at the two of them again, Yugi groaned and reburied his face in his hands. "Are they boarding for your flight yet?"

/Honestly, Yugi, I'm surprised you never asked Téa out on a date./

 **/Don't you start, too!/**

"I'll send emails while I'm gone," said Grandpa, as his boarding gate was announced over the intercom, "I just hope Arthur knows how to do it. We old timers aren't as good with technology like you youngsters."

"Won't Rebecca be there?"

Grandpa chuckled. "Oh, no. Rebecca is off on a trip from her university. Arthur and I are going to relax and reminisce about the good ol' days."

"You mean the ones where you were gambling away your only means of survival while trapped in a collapsed tomb?" said Yugi suspiciously. He didn't bother to hide a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to worry about being embarrassed from his grandfather's teasing if Rebecca wasn't going to be there.

"That's right!" Grandpa pulled Yugi and Joey into a quick hug. "Thanks for dropping me off at the airport, boys. Feel free to use the car if you need to for your journey." His eyes twinkled. "Just don't forget to come pick me up!"

"No sweat, Gramps," said Joey, "We got this – now go grab a seat before all the good ones are gone."

"Bye, Grandpa! We'll see you next week!"

"Good-bye, boys. Have fun on your holiday!"

They waved from the other side of the gate and stood by the window until the plane took off from the runway.

"We're…not gonna use Grandpa's car, are we?" Yugi asked nervously, "I don't think that's going to drive well in the snow."

"Nah," said Joey, "Téa took care of the car. I think her parents got us a rental or somethin'."

Yugi relaxed. "Okay. That's one thing we don't have to worry about. I've been dreading what would happen if we got stuck somewhere without anyone around to dig us out."

Joey snorted as they headed to the exit, "Hey, don't worry about it. With me behind the wheel, what could _possibly_ go wrong?" He pushed aside memories of flooring the gas pedal in a lopsided truck while trying to escape four angry members of the Big 5, with Serenity screaming in the passenger seat, and Duke tumbling along the ground after flying out of the back. That was out of survival instinct and desperation. They weren't going to be running for their lives here. This was vacation. They could take their time and relax.

Yugi smiled. "You're right, Joey. So long as we head out before the snow really starts to pick up, we don't have anything to worry about." He slipped into the passenger seat. "You _do_ know where this place is, don't you?"

"Téa's gonna print off the directions tonight," said Joey. "Seriously, Yug'. You're worrying over nothing! This is gonna be the best vacation we've had in a long time!"

* * *

.

Yami phased out of the Millennium Puzzle as Yugi put the last items into his suitcase that evening. "Have you packed everything?"

Yugi nodded. "I think so. I've never been to any sort of wintery resort before, but I know to plan for cold weather. Knowing Joey and Tristan, we'll probably spend half our time out in the snow, and the other half _recovering_ from being out there."

Yami tilted his head. "You know…after all of this time, I still don't think I've experienced that."

"What, snow?" Yugi grinned, "It's fun. Cold, and wet, sure, but you can build sculptures in it and have snowball fights with people."

"Ah, so it's used as a game? Your grandfather seemed concerned about it though."

"Well, it can be dangerous too," said Yugi, "It makes the roads slippery when its coming down, like rainfall does sometimes. That's why we're going to try and beat the storm out of Domino tomorrow. But when it stops snowing and the ground is covered, _then_ you can have fun in it!"

"I see…" said Yami thoughtfully, "I look forward to taking part in this then."

"Joey was right, this _is_ going to be the best week ever," Yugi dropped his suitcase by the door and climbed into bed. "No crazy people trying to take over the world, no high-stakes Duel Monster tournaments, just time to unwind with our friends."

"Then you best get your rest," said Yami, "They're going to come by and pick us up in the morning. You don't want to start this week off tired."

"You're right." Yugi reached for his lamp to click the light off. "'Night, Pharaoh."

Yami turned to disappear back into the Puzzle when something caught his eye through the skylight window. A light showering of white flakes had begun to descend from the sky, disappearing into tiny water spot the instant they hit the glass.

 _Hm_ , Yami thought, w _e may have wanted to beat the storm, but it appears the weather may have other plans…._

 _._

* * *

 _A/N: 36 inches is about 91 centimeters._


	2. Dashing Through the Snow

/Text/ Spirit to Host

 **/Text/** Host to Spirit

* * *

Chapter 2: _Dashing Through the Snow…_

Domino woke the following morning to a small accumulation of snow on the ground. There wasn't anything on the roads – not yet – but the grass was starting to look frosted over. So far the snow plows and salting trucks kept the bustling downtown streets clear, but the snow was only lightly falling. Eventually, they would be unable to keep up with the snowfall.

High up above the ground at Kaiba Corporation headquarters, the youngest Kaiba sat by the window, watching the flakes slowly make their way past to the sidewalk below. Small clusters of people were mingling around on the sidewalks getting their last bits of shopping done before the holiday, but for the most part, the walkways were clear.

Despite being stuck in his brother's office, Mokuba couldn't wipe the beam off of his face. Only a few more hours to go, and then he would have Seto all to himself, away from any workplace responsibility, and able to get the rest and relaxation he desperately needed.

"Did you see? Did you see? It's getting faster!" Mokuba whirled around excitedly as Seto walked back into the office, a steaming mug in his hand.

"Yes, Mokuba. It's snowing. I know."

"It started _earlier_ than we thought!" said the younger Kaiba energetically, "Does this mean we can _leave_ early too?"

Seto sighed. "There's still the end-of-year wrap up meeting to go. _Then_ we can head out."

Mokuba pouted. "That's going to take _forever_. You know those suits just like to sit and talk. It makes them sound important."

Seto relaxed into the back of his office chair. "You don't have to tell _me_ that. At least you don't have to sit in the room with them."

Mokuba got up from the floor. "It's starting to stick now, too. Do you think we'll make it to the house before it gets too dangerous?"

"We should," said Seto. "The roads were treated yesterday. Everyone knew this storm was coming. I imagine the crews are out there now working on them. The worst of them is going to be the driveway up to the house itself."

"I think Roland made sure the driveway was treated ahead of time," said Mokuba, "Considering the staff isn't going to be there again till New Year's."

Seto shrugged and began replying to the last minute company emails that snuck their way into his inbox. "Well, if not, you were looking forward to romping in the snow anyways."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but not like _that_."

Seto plucked a bit of fuzz off of his suit. "Can't always be choosy, Mokuba." He took another sip of coffee and swiveled around to look at his brother watching the snowfall. "I hope you've come up with things to do for the week."

Mokuba shrugged and sat down on the floor in front of the window. "Some things…I don't want to take _all_ of your time. This is supposed to be a relaxing getaway for you too. No Kaiba Corp problems to worry about, no crazies, it'll just you and me out in the wilderness!"

Seto snorted. "It's hardly the wilderness, Mokuba. The road in isn't _that_ long."

Mokuba stuck his tongue out and went back to watching the snow. "It's getting heavier…"

"It's bound to," said Seto, "We aren't going to get the accumulation they estimated on the little flurries that were coming down before." He gathered his coffee and a folder from the desk. "You can stay here until I get out of the meeting. Just be ready to go for when I get back…and _please_ , Mokuba. Don't sneak around the company firewalls on my laptop again. I _just_ finished reformatting the drives after your _last_ boredom attack."

Mokuba held up a hand in a mock salute. "I promise!"

Seto closed the office door behind him and met up with Roland in the hallway. "Did they really have to schedule this meeting _today_?"

"Probably not, but they do seem to enjoy aggravating you, sir."

"Hn."

"Ground crews arrived a few minutes ago. They're working in the main lot right now."

Seto scowled as they stepped into the elevator. "They should have been here already. The steps at the plaza entrance were already icing over."

"They were delayed; something about a traffic accident downtown."

Seto rolled his eyes as they approached the conference room. " _Of course_ there was. All it takes is a dusting of snow and everyone forgets how to drive."

The meeting was just as ridiculous as he knew it to be. Sure, there was an end-of-year meeting every year, but it seemed as though his board members were more interested in taking about items that had been gone over once before. Nothing about this meeting had to be done on the last office day of the calendar year, which was Seto found most annoying. To top it off, he could swear the clock over the conference room door was moving slower on purpose, just to torture him.

By the time they returned to Seto's office nearly an hour later, they found Mokuba in the office chair spinning around, still by the window.

"Have you been there the _entire_ time?"

"Not _all_ the time, but there was nothing good on TV," said Mokuba, "And it's hard to see what's _really_ going on down on the street cuz we're so high up. How was the meeting?"

"Completely unnecessary," Seto grumbled, "We _could_ have had this done days ago if some people wouldn't drag their feet." He took his chair from his brother and went back to his laptop.

"I thought we were leaving," Mokuba put his hands on his hips. "What are you doing now?"

"Finishing up something I started before. It won't take more than a few minutes."

"Ugh, _fine_." Mokuba jumped onto the couch and turned to Roland who was standing near the door. "What are you gonna do with your holiday time off, Roland?"

"Nothing fancy, sir. I'll enjoy the peace and quiet."

"You're not going to the cabin with us?" asked Mokuba, though the house was a bit big to be considered a cabin.

"If I remember correctly, there will only be the two of you there, sir. You wanted to spend quality time with your brother, so that's what you'll be getting. Mr. Kaiba will be taking you himself."

"Really? It's r _eally_ just going to be the two of us?" Mokuba grinned at his brother typing away on the laptop. "I didn't think you would take it _that_ literally."

Seto shrugged, finishing sending his reply, and closed the laptop. "It's what you wanted." He stood up and walked around his desk, grabbing his black overcoat from where it was draped over one of the other office chairs. "But if you don't get your jacket on, we won't go anywhere."

"It's on, it's on!" said Mokuba, practically hopping up and down by the door as Roland watched, amused. He was near skipping down the hall and jammed his finger repeatedly into the elevator button.

"Hitting it multiple times will not summon it faster, Mokuba," said Seto, slipping on his gloves.

"Ugh," Mokuba tapped his foot impatiently, "Where was this thing, on the ground floor?"

"Probably. I imagine anyone who _wasn't_ in the wrap up meeting has gone home already."

"You know, sir," said Roland, looking down at Mokuba, "You'll still have to wait for it to return you to the main level."

"It'll be faster cuz we'll be in it!" said Mokuba, as the door chimed. " _Finally!"_

Seto glanced at Roland suspiciously as the elevator doors closed behind them. "Did you give him anything today?"

"No, sir."

"Oooooooh, it's so white outside!" Mokuba bolted the instant the doors reopened. The entirety of the front lobby was made of floor-to-ceiling windows, and there was nothing to see outside but the falling snow.

"Where's the car?"

Roland gestured to the plaza. "Fuguta brought it around to the front, sir. It should be down at the end of the sidewalk."

Seto peered out the window nearest to the main entrance and scowled. "They didn't treat the plaza?"

"I believe they're working on it, sir. It _is_ coming down harder now than before."

"I suppose it doesn't much matter now, since just about everyone is gone at this point," Seto sighed. He looked down at his little brother. "Ready?"

"I've been ready since _yesterday_ ," said Mokuba.

"I bet you have," said Seto, "Come on. And –" he grabbed the back of his little brother's jacket as Mokuba nearly skidded three steps out the door. " _Don't run._ "

"Yes, Seto."

"Ease up on the excitement at least until you're in the car, okay kiddo?" Seto ruffled his brother's unruly hair before heading down the plaza steps.

Or he would have, if his right foot didn't skid out on the ice patch hiding on the top step….

* * *

"I can't believe, after all that planning and preparation, you _still_ weren't ready to go this morning," Téa grumbled. "We were supposed to leave _hours_ ago." She and Yugi sat in the backseat of the rental car as Joey eased the car onto the road. Tristan sat up in the front passenger seat with a large map open across his legs.

"I'm sorry okay? Sheesh, you forget to set your alarm _one_ day, and it's like the world is gonna end or somethin'," Joey mumbled.

"It's okay, Joey. We didn't know it was going to start this early," said Yugi, "So long as the main roads are okay, we should get there just fine."

"Yeah, see Téa? Yugi's got the right attitude," said Joey.

"Remind us again why you put Tristan in charge of directions though?" asked Téa.

"What are you talkin' about, Téa? Tristan's my wingman!"

"He also couldn't tell what a river was on the last map, remember?" said Téa, crossing her arms.

Tristan sighed loudly. "A brief moment of weakness! I got this, Téa. Don't be a backseat driver."

"Okay, okay, fine."

"It sure is hard to see out there," Joey grumbled under his breath. He gripped the wheel tighter as the car slid a bit to the side before righting itself.

"Do you think we should have waited for the storm to pass before setting out?" Yugi asked worriedly before quickly adding, "Not that we _won't_ get there, of course…."

"I wish, man. Today's the last day we could get there to do redeem the prize. Would have been nice to go sooner but we weren't allowed out of school. If we don't check in today, I'll lose out on the whole thing."

Téa sighed. "It's not like you had to _pay_ for any of it though."

"Eh – technicalities, Téa."

Yugi decided to tune out the bickering in the car by looking out the window. There wasn't too much to see but the occasional car on the other side of the road. Trees lined the roadway, making them feel out in the middle of the woods.

/I see what you mean by dangerous,/ said Yami. /It is very hard to see what's out there right now./

 **/Yeah. I'm surprised we've been faring as well as we have, considering we left so late** _ **and**_ **the storm started last night, when we all thought it would be sometime this afternoon!/**

/Luck is on our side, I suppose./

"So…Trist', where's the next turn?"

"Uh….."Tristan looked down at the map, back out the windshield at the road in front of him, and back to the map.

"You _were_ paying attention to where we were…weren't you?" asked Téa.

"Of course I was!" Tristan snapped. "Just give me a second to get my bearings."

"A second's all you got, man," said Joey, "We can't just slam on the brakes if we miss the turn. It's snowin' worse up here than it was back home."

"It's from the path the storm was taking, remember?" said Téa. "Domino was only on the fringe of it."

"AH! Turn left there, Joey!"

"What!? Geezuz Tristan!"

Yugi and Téa reached up for the grab handles, as Joey steered the car none too gently around the corner. Thankfully there were no other cars around or Yugi was certain they would have ended up in an accident.

"Careful, Joey!"

Joey let out the breath he didn't realize he was even holding in as the car finally righted itself in the lane. "You guys ok?"

Yugi leaned back against the seat. "I'm glad I didn't eat much this morning."

Joey knocked Tristan in the back of the head. "You gotta warn me of those turns sooner!"

"Ack –hey, I'm sorry!"

"You better be! Now long till the next turn?"

Tristan looked down at the directions. "Looks like it's going to be a straight run for a while, and then the road is going to take a pretty big curve to the left. After that we hit the highway."

"Okay."

They slowly continued their trek down the road. The line of trees seemed to get denser the further in they traveled. Yugi noted that there were no other cars nearby.

"I thought you said this was an access road to the highway," he said, "I expected more cars to be around than just us."

"Yeah, me too," said Téa. "Unless everyone decided not to travel today."

Joey steered the car around a rather long _rightward_ curve in the road. "Uh…so where's the route to the highway?"

Tristan frowned and looked at the map. "It should be almost right here?" He leaned forward, trying to look out the windshield through the sea of white. "Uh…?"

"There's no road here, Tristan!"

"What's that up there?" asked Téa. " _That_ looks like a street."

"There – see? I didn't steer you wrong after all!" said Tristan triumphantly.

Joey gripped the steering wheel tighter. This didn't look like a main road at all. It seemed much too narrow, although that could have been from the snow. It didn't seem like it had been cleared in some time. "Them road crews ought to be out this way instead of all huddled together back home. How's anyone supposed to get through this way?"

Téa frowned. "Maybe we should turn around and find an alternate path."

"There _is_ no alternate path unless we go _all_ the way back to Domino and start over," said Tristan. "And if we do that, we might as well just stay home and not go at all."

"Yeesh – hold onto your breakfast guys," said Joey, "This street sure is windy, and it looks messy as all getup. Hopefully we won't be on it too long."

Yugi looked around the further along they went. "Somehow, I don't think this is right."

"Me neither," said Téa. "We should have hit the main road by now. The trees are way too dense. I don't think there's anything out here."

"We're on the right street, I'm _sure_ of it," said Tristan, " _Who_ is the navigator here, again?"

Téa let out a huff. "Not us."

"That's right! So you guys just enjoy the scenery and let us do the driving."

Yugi gasped and pointed ahead of them. "Look out Joey, there's deer in the road!"

"There's nowhere to move – the road's too narrow!" Joey cried. "Hang on!"

"To _what_?" Téa snapped.

"I dunno, each other? They're not movin' so we either hit them or the snow!"

"This is gonna get _messy!"_ Tristan cried.

The deer in the road bounded off towards the trees the _exact_ instant Joey twisted the steering wheel hard to the right. Attempting to right the vehicle, Joey moved the opposite direction, but the car kept skidding out along the frosty path before going off to rest in a snow pile.

"Ugh…" Joey looked around. Thankfully they didn't veer off fast enough to cause a serious crash. The airbags didn't deploy, but he could see they were thoroughly stuck. "Everyone okay? You guys still alive back there?"

"We're still here," said Téa, rubbing her forehead. "But… _now what_?"


	3. Walking in a Winter Wonderland

/Text/ Spirit to Host

 **/Text/** Host to Spirit

* * *

Chapter 3: _Walking in a Winter Wonderland_

"So…now what?" asked Téa. "I don't think we're going to be able to get the car out of this embankment ourselves. And even if we could, by the time we got it all turned around, this street may not be passable anymore."

Yugi rubbed his gloved hands together. "Yeah…does anyone have cell coverage out here? Maybe we can call for help. Even if we had to leave the car, maybe someone would be able to come get us."

"I hope so, but I would feel bad for making someone trek all the way out this far to come get us," said Téa. "We'd be putting them at risk of getting into an accident, too."

"Well it's either _that_ , or we stay in the car. We could run the heat until we get rescued, but eventually, the car is gonna run out of gas," said Tristan.

Téa pulled out her cell phone. "I don't really have much reception here."

Yugi tried his phone too. "Same."

/Yugi…/ Yami phased out of the Puzzle and pointed behind them. "What's that?"

"Hm?" Yugi turned around and gasped. "Hey guys! Check this out!" Carefully, he trudged through the snow to stand beside an open gate that was becoming more and more buried by the minute. "Maybe we're not so alone out here after all. This looks like a gate. Maybe we found a housing community or something."

"Yeah…I'm sure someone will be able to get help for us," said Téa. "Good find, Yugi!"

"We just gotta get there," said Joey. "We don't know how far we'll have to walk to find it. 'Might be better to wait by the car."

"But we don't really have a lot of supplies to hunker down here," said Tristan. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"

"I suppose…but I don't think we'll be walking all the way back here. Maybe should take our bags with us…"

"Easy for you to say," Joey grumbled.

"You shouldn't have packed _everything_ you own for a five day trip then," Téa sighed. "This was supposed to be vacation. It's not like you're moving out of your dad's house."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Always helps to be prepared!" Grabbing the keys from his pocket, he opened the trunk. "Alright, grab whatever you can't leave behind." He blinked at the bags. "Was I the _only_ one who packed more than one duffel bag?"

"I think so, Joey."

"Ugh. Well….I guess we better get going."

"Wait!" Tristan reached into his bag. "I knew this marker would come in handy. Anyone got a piece of paper?"

"Paper? Why?" asked Yugi, "And why did you have a permanent marker, anyways?"

"I found it in my bag when I was packing," Tristan shrugged. "I figured it would come in handy for _something_."

"I don't have any paper," said Téa.

"Well…we'll just use the next best thing." Tristan popped the cap off and scribbled a note onto the car's window. "Now if someone comes looking, they'll know we went this way."

"Good idea, Tristan!" Joey gave him a high-5.

"That better come _off_ the window when we return the car, or you'll be paying for that," Téa grumbled. Hoisting bags over their shoulders, they set off down the road.

"For a housing community, there sure aren't a lot of buildings nearby," said Joey after a while. He turned to look behind him. They had traveled far enough that the car wasn't visible anymore, and he had been banking on getting to their hotel with no problem. His sneakers weren't the best for trudging through the snow, and every now and then he would step in a section that went ankle deep and feel the cold soak into his sock.

"You don't think that gate was for something _else_ , do you? Maybe no one lives out here," said Téa worriedly, "And we just abandoned the car."

"It's not like the car would be going back onto the road anyhow," said Tristan.

"Yea, but at least we won't end up with wet feet. By the time we get _anywhere_ , we'll all probably contract pneumonia," said Téa.

"C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?" asked Joey.

"I left it in the car where it was nice and dry," said Téa.

Yugi stopped, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees.

"You okay, pal?"

"Just catching my breath," said Yugi. He straightened back up and rubbed at his arms. "The wind is making it pretty bad out here."

"Hey guys, over here!" Tristan called. After going on ahead, he turned back and carefully waded his way back to the others. "I found something!"

"You did?" asked Yugi. "A house?"

"Yeah, and a pretty big one, too! Hopefully the owners won't mind us hiding out from the storm. At the very least, maybe they can get us some help for the car."

"I hope they're home," said Yugi, as they stumbled through the messy roadway to where Tristan had indicated.

"There are lights on. That's a good sign," said Téa. "I just hope they won't turn us away. You hear stories all the time about bad things that happen to good people from helping strangers."

They continued their way up the driveway to the front steps. "Look," said Yugi, pointing down, "You can kind of see where the area was treated…kind of. That's a good sign that someone's home. And there are still some faint tire tracks. A car was here."

Joey carefully made his way up the steps and jammed his finger into the doorbell. "Cross your fingers, guys…if you can still feel 'em."

.

* * *

"You're overreacting. I'm _fine_ ," said Seto through gritted teeth. He leaned against the headrest in the backseat.

"Sure you are," said Mokuba. "Cuz _no one_ saw you take a huge tumble in front of Kaiba Corp in broad daylight."

Seto scowled. "This pit stop is hardly necessary."

Mokuba turned around from his spot up in the front passenger seat and gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Uh huh. I wasn't the one who couldn't get back on their feet without Roland's help."

"So I pulled a muscle. It'll heal."

Mokuba snorted. "You did _way_ more than that, Seto, but since the doctor's offices are all closed now, we'll guess and treat on our own – and no, your self-diagnosis doesn't count. At all."

"Considering it's _my_ leg, my diagnosis is the only one that matters."

"Yeah, but you downplay everything about your health, so you're overruled."

Seto sighed and looked down at his right leg resting across the backseat. Pain shot down from his knee all the way to his ankle every time he tried to adjust its position. His ankle had twisted after slipping on the top plaza step. There weren't many steps from the sidewalk leading up to Kaiba Corp's main entrance, but it still hurt to fall down _all_ of them and land on his knee. It _was_ certainly more than a strained muscle, but he was certain that once they got to the house (Mokuba kept affectionately dubbing it 'the cabin' for some reason), it would feel better once he iced it over for a few hours.

After helping him stretch along the backseat, Roland had eased the car out onto the road and out towards the house. What he wasn't expecting was for him to pull into a drugstore parking lot, tell Mokuba in no uncertain terms to wait in the car with the doors locked, and disappear inside.

"What do you suppose he's getting?" asked Mokuba, "He's been in there for a while now."

"If he doesn't hurry, we'll end up back home for the holidays instead of your 'cabin in the wilderness'. And what a shame that would be, since you had the place stocked with who-knows-what for the next week. Are you even going to tell me what it all is?"

"Nope! And we're still going to the cabin. You're not gonna weasel your way out of Fun Week just cuz you went splat on the sidewalk."

Seto chuckled darkly, spotting Roland leaving the store with a long, skinny box and a bag of something tucked under his arm. "I can assure you, Mokuba, if I wanted to avoid this week you've planned for us, there were much _less_ painful ways of going about it."

Mokuba frowned, his gaze softening in worry. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll live, Mokuba. I've been through worse than this before."

The trunk of the car slammed shut and Roland slipped back into the vehicle.

"What did you get?" asked Mokuba, "You were in there for a long time."

"You would think that everyone in town forgot it was going to blizzard this weekend. I've never seen such a run on a store before," said Roland shaking his head. "Are you doing alright, sir?"

"He's being sarcastic, we're okay," said Mokuba. "Are we heading to the cabin now?"

"Yes, sir."

The ride was mostly quiet. Mokuba's energetic enthusiasm for their vacation had vanished the instant his brother fell.

"At least the driveway was treated," said Mokuba, "I'd hate for the car to skid out too."

"I was assured that the way to the house was cleared before the groundskeepers left for the weekend," said Roland.

"I'm sorry we kind of sabotaged the beginning of your vacation," said Mokuba.

"Think nothing of it, sir."

"Are you going to be able to get back to Domino okay in this weather?" asked Mokuba. "It's snowing much harder here."

Roland chuckled. "I won't be going back."

Mokuba blinked. "You're not?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Don't mother hen me, Roland. I _can_ manage on my own."

"Of course you can, Mr. Kaiba. However, in your current state, you should have someone nearby in case you need assistance."

Seto narrowed his eyes. "I said _I can manage_."

"Yes, sir. I'm certain you will hobble around splendidly. But _if_ you fall again, you can't expect Mokuba to be able to get you off the ground without causing you additional injury."

"He's got a point, Seto. It's not like I was able to help you up before," said Mokuba.

Seto huffed and went back to looking out the window. "So much for your quiet, relaxing vacation."

Roland chuckled. "Are we in the midst of a corporate takeover?"

Mokuba frowned. "No…unless Pegasus decided he wanted Kaiba Corp for Christmas…"

"Don't give him ideas," Seto snapped.

"Did you plan a Duel Monsters tournament for the holidays?"

"No…." Mokuba said slowly, confused at this line of questioning.

"Are Yugi Muto and his friends nearby?"

"They better not be," said Seto. That was the _last_ thing he needed.

"Then I'm sure whatever corner of the house I claim for my own the next few days will be just as quiet as if I was in my own home," said Roland, eyeing his employer through the rear mirror. "And _if_ I am needed, I will be close by."

He pulled the car around to the front steps of the house, got out, and grabbed his purchases from the trunk. Walking around the car, he opened one of the back doors. "Are you able to bend your knee to get out without assistance?"

Seto gave him the ' _of course_ I can' look before very slowly and very carefully eased himself out of the vehicle. His ankle buckled the instant he set it on the ground and he hissed, glaring at Roland's sudden grip on his arm to keep him upright.

"Alright, lean on me until we get up into the house, and then I'll leave you be," said Roland. "Just…try not to take out your _other_ leg."

"Hahaha," said Seto dryly.

Mokuba grabbed the drugstore bag from where it was dropped next to the car and hurried up and into the house. He closed the door after his brother made it inside and watched as he was deposited into a chair outside the living room.

"Don't get up," said Roland, reaching for the bag. He pulled out a long, skinny package and Seto immediately crossed his arms over his chest.

"No. _Absolutely not_."

"Sir…"

"I'm not an eighty year-old man," said Seto, "I will _not_ use a cane."

"Hm…" Roland mulled it over. "You're right. At this point, you can't have weight on that side at all." He finished extending it out to be an appropriate height and reached into the bag again. "You need _these_."

Mokuba snickered.

Seto glared at both of them. They were enjoying this _way_ too much. " _Those_ are worse."

"Seto," Mokuba put his hands on his hips. "If you want to be able to move around on your own without falling on your face, you're gonna have to use something. Take the crutches."

Seto sighed and looked at the drugstore bag. "That's not all that's in there."

Roland shook his head. "No…but we'll go through everything else _after_ you change. Let me move your bags inside. _Stay there._ "

Seto sighed and stretched his leg out in front of him. Mokuba sat on the floor next to him. "Looks like this vacation isn't gonna go the way I intended it to…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Seto, reaching over to ruffle his little brother's hair.

Mokuba looked up sadly at him. "We were supposed to have _fun_ this week."

"Yeah, so?"

"You got hurt, Seto!"

"And I remember correctly, this was pegged to be an intervention for my sanity, or however you put it." Seto waved a hand dismissively, "The way I see it, there will be plenty of time to rest now."

Mokuba pouted. "I thought we would go outside after the storm and have fun…like _in_ the snow."

"You'll forgive me if I watch from a safe distance," said Seto, "Although, if you put it off long enough, I'll probably still make it out there with you." Regardless of injury, he really didn't plan on getting out into the snow anyway. At least not for the periods of time Mokuba was harping about repeatedly leading up to today. The snowman he could deal with – but there was no way he was going to lay down and form snow angels. He had to draw the line somewhere.

Mokuba shook his head. "I wouldn't want you to fall again."

Seto shrugged. "No risk, no reward."

"Nuh uh. Leave the business talk at work, Seto."

After an intense stare down by his right hand man _and_ his little brother, he relented enough to use the damn crutches – " _Only_ until I can walk on it."

Later, once he changed out of his ruined suit and into a dry button down and slacks, he collapsed down onto the living room sofa and stretched his leg out in front of him with a noticeable wince. With the same bag from before in hand, Roland moved the ottoman up next to the end of the couch occupied by Seto's legs and sat down.

"I wasn't sure what would fit, so I grabbed a bit of everything," he admitted, pulling out a few different sized braces and wraps.

Mokuba watched from the second couch as a brace was fitted onto his brother's ankle, and a rather large looking stabilizer was placed around his knee. Finally, cold packs were secured around the swollen areas before Roland got up and took the excess items out of the room.

"How do you feel?" asked Mokuba.

"I'll live," said Seto bitterly, looking down at Roland's handiwork. "I feel like it's been mummified. In ice."

"That's good though, cuz you won't move it as much…right?"

"That's the idea."

Roland returned a few minutes later with a bottle of tablets and a glass of water. "They'll take the edge off, and help with the swelling."

"They'll make me tired too. No thanks."

"Mr. Kaiba…."

"You won your little fight with the crutches. Don't push it."

"Very well. I'll leave them here on the end table behind you if you change your mind. I'll have your things set up in the room by the study rather than upstairs."

"I can already tell I'll lose the argument against that too, so fine. Whatever."

Roland took off his "KC" lapel pin, placed it on the end table beside his boss, and turned to Mokuba. "I turned on one of the security radio walkies. Just call if you need me, sir."

"Okay. Thanks, Roland!"

Seto shifted himself into a better sitting position and looked to his brother. "So, what's first on your agenda of fun?"

"I thought we'd play a game! Not like how you normally play – not for company research, but for fun!" He scrambled over to the cabinet under the large TV and pulled out a game console. "We're gonna start _retro_!"

They were on the fourth round of a racing game when they heard the doorbell ring throughout the hall.

Seto hoisted himself up a bit to try and peer out the window on the other side of the room, but all he could see was the frenzy of falling snow. "What the… _who_ would be all the way out here?" He looked at Mokuba suspiciously, "You didn't _invite_ anyone, did you?"

Mokuba quickly shook his head. "No!" He paused the game and got up from his seat. "How did anyone manage to make it out this way…."

"Stop," said Seto. He reached for the crutches set alongside the couch. "You are not answering the door. That could be anyone."

"Then I'll get Roland," said Mokuba, picking up the lapel communicator. "You just stay put."

Seto sank back against the pillows. "Alright, fine. But I'm not buying anything they're selling – or converting to whatever religion is the 'worship of the week'."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I don't think anyone is going to brave this weather just to preach."

The doorbell rang a second time by the time Mokuba made it to the foyer. Roland was on his way down from the steps to join him when he unlocked the door.

Mokuba blinked and had to do a double take at the shivering individuals huddled on their front step. "Joey? What are you guys doing here?"


	4. Do you Wanna Build a Snowman?

/Text/ Spirit to Host

 **/Text/** Host to Spirit

* * *

Chapter 4: _Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?_

"Joey? What are you guys doing here?" Mokuba blinked and shared a confused look with Roland. How _did_ they find their way here?

"We were on our way to a ski resort for the holidays," said Téa, "And obviously, we missed a turn somewhere, because when we went off the road a little ways back, it was within your property gate."

"You…went _off_ the road?" Mokuba peered around them, looking for a car. He half expected it to be overturned or wrapped around a tree, but there was nothing out there. The car he arrived in had been moved off to the garage on the other side of the mansion.

"Yeah, right past the gate," said Yugi, "We thought maybe we stumbled onto a housing community or something and was hoping to find a way to get some help for the car."

Mokuba frowned. "Wait. Did – did you guys _walk_ all the way here?"

Tristan rubbed at his arms. "Yep."

"Geez, _get inside_ ," Mokuba stepped aside and opened the door wider. "You guys are gonna freeze to death out there. You're probably at half popsicle already!"

"Thanks, Mokuba," said Téa, stepping inside carefully to not drip melting snow all over the floor. "I didn't realize you guys lived all the way out here."

"We don't. I mean, we own the house, but we don't live here 24/7. We're just staying here for the holidays," said Mokuba, and he bit his lip. "Seto and I needed a good place to get away from work for a while. This is mostly for him so he didn't work himself to death."

"Do you think we could use a phone or something to get a tow truck for our car?" asked Yugi. "We don't want to bother you on your vacation."

"You probably won't get anyone to come out till the snow stops. And it was supposed to continue throughout the entire weekend," said Roland matter-of-factly, "You must have missed _several_ turns to end up out this way. The gates to this house are on a private road. Local road crews will treat them, but it'll be the last priority on their list. Mr. Kaiba's groundskeepers will tend to everything within the gate, but they have to make it here first. And all of his employees, regardless of position, are currently on company holiday."

"What about you then?" said Joey.

"I am _technically_ off duty, Mr. Wheeler. And…" he gestured out the window next to the front doors. "It's not like I would get very far if I left."

"Look guys," Mokuba began, "I'm sure that Seto will let you stay –"

"Seriously? He _hates_ us," said Tristan. "I'm surprised he hasn't come out of wherever he's hiding and kicked us off his front step."

Mokuba crossed his arms. _Seto couldn't even manage that if he tried._ " _Hey_. You guys are the ones stranded, not us. Seto may not like you, but he won't just throw you out there without a way to get back home." _And I wouldn't let him anyways._

"You sure about that?" asked Joey. "Where is Moneybags, anyway?"

"Seto's…." Mokuba exchanged a look with Roland. "…feeling under the weather."

"Well, we won't disturb him," said Téa, "You can throw us in a corner of this place, and he won't even know we're here."

"Don't be silly, you can hang out with us," said Mokuba. He suddenly took on a serious look more fitting on his brother's face, and leveled a glare at them all. "Under one condition."

Yugi blinked. "O-okay?"

"I'm not gonna ask you to put aside all the differences you all have with my brother and be all buddy-buddy with him…but don't push it. He won't be keen on having you here, but he'll get over it. Eventually. But I planned this as a week for him to _relax_. Seto doesn't take vacations. Ever. And he's been under so much stress lately, you could _feel_ how close he was to losing it. This isn't just about fun, it's for his health too."

Joey looked at Tristan. "I feel that was mostly directed at _us_."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Considering you two are the biggest instigators, it was. And I mean it too. Seto's _really_ not going to be in the mood for you guys right now, and I think he was looking forward to it being just us for a few days. But you're here, so we'll make the best of it. Don't expect him to hold back his tongue though, he's super cranky right now."

Joey shrugged out of his jacket. "So we gotta be good, but he doesn't?"

Mokuba beamed. "Nope! Perks of owning the house. But it'll be okay…I won't let him get _too_ carried away."

Téa bit her lip. "Are you _sure_ that you're okay with us staying here with you?"

"Yeah," said Mokuba, "I mean, sure – I would have preferred to just spend some time with Seto, but you guys need help. And it's not like you'll be here the _entire_ time. Once the roads clean themselves up, we'll get you on your way. …It's not like you have anywhere _else_ to go."

Yugi smiled, ignoring Joey's mumble that yes, there was someplace else they were supposed to be. "Thanks, Mokuba! I promise, we won't be a burden."

"So…uh…you might as well get out of those clothes before they become a second skin." Mokuba turned to look up at Roland, "We can find rooms for them, right?"

Roland nodded and gestured to the stairs. "This way."

"I'm gonna check on Seto – come find us when you're ready. I gotta warm him up for you."

Yugi turned to Joey as they were led upstairs. "I feel terrible for intruding on them."

"Yeah…" Joey scratched at the back of his head. "But…it beats freezing to death out there."

"Maybe we can make it up to them somehow," said Yugi.

"Kinda hard when those two have everything already," said Joey, and Yugi had to agree with him. Anything tangible could be easily acquired. They certainly had plenty of money for that. Which meant that any sort of appreciative gift had to come from his own head. He would have to sleep on it.

Finally in warmer, dry clothes, they met up with Mokuba again at the base of the steps.

"So…how much of a landmine are we about to walk into?" asked Téa.

Mokuba shrugged. "It could be worse. Um…like I figured, Seto isn't too happy. But I thought he would put up a bigger fight about this, and he didn't so…progress? Anyway…he had a few ground rules too before he lets you…" Mokuba held up air quotes, " 'run wild' in the house."

"Alright," said Téa.

"He promised me he wouldn't just shut himself off while you're here – though I think he kinda wants to – but the study is off limits. It's his quiet room."

"I kind of figured he wouldn't want to be around us all the time," said Yugi. "Was there anything else?"

"Um, yeah." Mokuba frowned. "Joey isn't allowed alone in the kitchen, but I think he was half-joking on that one. And…this one is serious, from both of us. I told you he's feeling under the weather, remember?"

"He's not contagious, right? I don't want what's catchin'," said Joey.

Mokuba held up his hands. "No, it's not like that. He's not _sick_. But being down is making him cranky, so try _really hard_ not to give him the pity party or he'll make you build an igloo outside to keep warm."

Yugi and Téa exchanged looks. "Um. Okay."

Mokuba smiled. "Good. So…you guys like video games?"

.

* * *

.

Seto glanced up as he turned the page of the book in his lap. "You know," he said with a trace of bitterness, "I told Mokuba to turn away salesman and religious opportunists. I should have included strays." He returned to his book, ignoring their stares and Téa's quiet gasp at seeing the crutches on the floor.

"Geez, Rich Boy, what happened to you?"

"A cruel twist of irony." It was bad enough the Friendship Brigade was stuck in his house until the storm cleared. He didn't need anyone else getting ideas to play caregiver. Roland doing it was bad enough, but Roland was also used to cleaning up wounds from the Gozaburo days. He could tolerate that, but not much else.

Mokuba cleared his throat. "So who wants a turn?"

"You don't want to play, Mokuba?"

"Seto already trounced me four times today. I want to see if you guys could beat his score."

"Oh, a challenge!" Joey held up a hand, "Sign me up, pal!"

"Tristan?" Mokuba held up the second controller. "Joey may _try_ to beat Seto's run, but do you want to kick _his_ butt while he does it?"

"Sure," said Tristan. "How do you play?"

Mokuba grabbed a spare pillow and flopped onto the floor between them. "So you use the joystick to steer the car…"

Yugi broke away from watching Joey and Tristan's horrendous 'practice run' around the game track to look over at the couch beside him. His rival was doing a very good job at ignoring everyone else in the room with his book. But Yugi knew that Kaiba was a fast reader, and he noticed the page hadn't turned in several minutes.

He got up quietly and pushed the ottoman over to the couch. "Kaiba?"

"Hn?"

"I want to thank you…for letting us stay. I know it's probably the last thing you wanted…"

Seto sighed. "It wouldn't look very good if a group of frozen bodies were found on my property once the snow melted."

Yugi tilted his head to the side a bit. "That wasn't the only reason…."

Seto laid the book down across his legs and leaned his head back against the pillow so he was staring at the ceiling. Yugi thought he might be ignoring him until his rival finally looked first at Mokuba, and then to him. "No," he said quietly. "To be honest, Yugi, _I don't want you here._ "

Yugi looked down at his lap and nodded. "I figured."

"Mokuba wanted to spend time alone with me, which is why we came all the way out here instead of staying home. He had an entire week's worth of activities planned, and I haven't the faintest idea what they are."

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to interrupt your plans."

Seto shrugged and gestured to his leg. "However…I've been laid up. _Most_ of my brother's plans probably went out the window. He won't show it, but it's upsetting him."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Yugi.

"I may not like you and your friends, Yugi, but for reasons I can't fathom, Mokuba does. Your arrival has probably turned into a blessing in disguise. I may not _want_ you here, but you all can do what I currently can't."

Yugi blinked. "You want us to help keep Mokuba happy?"

"It's the _least_ you do for interrupting my week off."

They both looked over as Joey jumped up from his spot on the floor and shook his fist angrily in Tristan's face. "What the hell was that, Trist'! You cheated!"

"Did not – you're just terrible at this game!"

"I am not – you just hoodwinked the controller!"

Seto turned his head to Yugi and raised an eyebrow.

Yugi nodded. "Deal."

* * *

Mokuba looked up from his four-player game with Tristan, Téa, and Joey when he heard Seto's crutches set upright on the ground. "Where are you going, Seto?"

"To make dinner."

"Dinner?" Mokuba twisted around to see the clock on the wall, and his eyes bugged out. "It's that late _already_?"

"You've been playing that game for hours," said Yugi.

"Why wouldn't we?" said Joey, "This thing's fun!"

Téa bit her lip and stood up from her floor cushion. "Would you like help in the kitchen, Kaiba?"

"Yeah, man, can you even _cook_?" asked Tristan.

"Probably has a fancy chef at home. Here come ramen noodles and…whatever else," Joey snickered.

Téa rolled her eyes as Seto glared down at them.

"Seto can cook," said Mokuba. "He just doesn't do it a lot. But if you two don't quit it, you'll eat outside."

"Yeah? Who's gonna kick us outside?" Joey teased as Seto left the room.

"If we tell him to, Roland will," Mokuba shrugged. "Don't push Seto's buttons."

"No, _I_ will," said Téa, hands on her hips. "The least you could do for Kaiba and Mokuba is to not give them grief. They opened up their house to us. We _could_ be spending this time huddled in the car, remember?"

Sighing, she stalked off in search of the kitchen.

"You didn't tell me no, so now you're stuck with me," said Téa. "Just tell me what I can do, but I swear, Kaiba, if you tell me to go back and play another round of that game with Joey I'll smack you over the head with your own crutches."

"What did the mutt do this time?" Seto leant against the counter with a coffee mug in his hand.

"He's just being Joey, but really though, I'm just tired of him whining about losing to Yugi and Mokuba. I'm surprised _you_ haven't whooped his butt in a game yet."

Seto rolled his eyes. "Beating Wheeler in _anything_ is hardly a challenge."

Téa frowned, though she should have expected that sort of answer from him. "So…where can I help?"

Seto gestured with his free hand around the kitchen. "Knock yourself out. I've only looked through the cabinets so far to find the coffee."

Téa blinked and tried to suppress a smile. "You don't know where anything is?"

Seto leveled her with a half-annoyed look. "I haven't set foot in this house in over a year, Gardner. The groundskeepers have had more use of this place than Mokuba and I have."

"Hm. Well…I guess I'll explore then," she said. "Why don't you si –"

"If you're going to tell me to sit, _save it_. I. Am. _Not_. An. _Invalid,_ " Seto lashed out through gritted teeth. The look he gave her made Téa step back a few paces.

"Of course you're not," said Téa quickly. "I just figured it would be easier to change that ice pack on your ankle if you weren't standing up."

Seto glared at her. "That was _not_ what you were going to say."

Téa shrugged and began pulling items out of the fridge. "At least Mokuba had the place stocked with more than cookies and ice cream."

"Mokuba knows I don't care for sweets. He wouldn't drag me out all this way to let me starve." Seto blinked. "I thought _I_ was making dinner."

"Oh, well…I'm feeling inspired. And you seem more interested in nursing that cup than cooking, so I've got it."

Seto huffed, but sank down into one of the kitchen chairs. Having found a cutting board, Téa placed a pepper and knife in front of him. "Here, you can help chop. Will Mokuba eat vegetables?"

"Of course he will," said Seto, "Don't expect him to _like_ them."

Yugi poked his head into the kitchen. "Anything I can help with?"

"Sure!" Téa said cheerily, "The more hands the merrier."

"Please tell me you didn't leave Wheeler and Taylor to corrupt my brother," Seto deadpanned.

Yugi shook his head. "No…he took them to the game room. They're playing with the pool table."

 _Another 'inheritance' from the Gozaburo days_ , Seto thought bitterly. That room always smelled of cigar smoke, and even now, well after driving his step-father away, he avoided that room like the plague.

"How did you end up out here, Yugi?" The question had been nagging at him ever since the Geek Squad had been ushered into the house, and he had been too preoccupied trying to ignore them to bother asking.

"We were heading to this resort up north. Joey won a round of tickets from that Duel Monsters tournament held a little while back. Add in a late start, Tristan not paying attention to the map and Joey trying to avoid a deer, and here we are."

"I can't fathom why you would let Taylor handle directions, but really, Yugi? You let _Wheeler_ drive?"

"I asked myself the same question," Téa mumbled.

* * *

Yugi woke the next morning and stretched. He glanced over to the clock on the end table. "I feel like I slept for _days_ , and it's only 7am!"

Yami phased out of the Puzzle. "You rested well last night. I take it you were comfortable."

Yugi nodded and padded over to the window. "Yeah. And….look at all that snow."

"It's still coming down, too."

"Not as fast as yesterday. I wonder if we should help shovel the walk so we can actually leave the house someday."

"It would be a nice gesture," said Yami. "Kaiba certainly won't, and that's a lot of ground to cover."

"I'm sure we can rally the others into it also," said Yugi. He dressed for the day and wandered into the kitchen. Roland was sitting at the table, reading the news off of a tablet.

"Mr. Muto."

"Uh, good morning," said Yugi, "Is everyone else still asleep?"

"Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Taylor decided to make use of the game room _late_ into the night," said Roland. He got up and poured himself his second coffee of the day. "I believe you and Mokuba are the only risers."

"Oh. Where is Mokuba, anyway?"

"In Mr. Kaiba's room." He gestured to the stepstool next to the counter and the scorched pan in the sink. "He _attempted_ to make him breakfast."

"Uh oh. I suppose that went badly."

"If that is Mokuba's only use of the walkie I gave him, then I will consider it lucky," said Roland. "I expected Mr. Kaiba to worsen his condition yesterday. The quiet afternoon was welcome."

Yugi looked out the window. "Do you know when the snow is going to stop? I was thinking of corralling Joey and Tristan to maybe help shovel."

"Mokuba has been glued to the weather app since he woke. I believe the snow is supposed to pause around noon and pick up again in the evening."

Yugi reached across the counter to place some bread in the toaster. "I wonder how much is out there already."

"Certainly too much for the three of you to try and move without injuring yourselves. When the snow stops, and the grounds staff are able to return, they will clear the walkways."

Mokuba came skipping into the kitchen a moment later, an empty plate in his hand. "Morning, Yugi!"

"Hi, Mokuba."

Mokuba stepped on the little stool and began scrubbing the pan in the sink. "Good news: Seto's ankle is no longer the size of a grapefruit!"

Roland raised an eyebrow as he got up from the table and headed for the door. "That sounds like an exaggeration. His ankle didn't swell that extensively."

Mokuba frowned. "Well it was big! But not anymore!"

"That's great news, Mokuba," said Yugi, "Is he feeling better?"

"Not really. Well…that's not entirely true. He can put little bits of weight on his one side, but not enough to walk on it for long periods of time. It's just hard for him to move around since his knee is still a little swollen. You probably won't see much of him today."

"I'm glad he's mending okay," said Yugi.

"Me too," said Mokuba, "Falling seemed to take a lot of bite out of him yesterday. I told you and the others how… _calmly_ he kinda just agreed to you guys being here. It was weird. But anyway…" he shrugged, "...got any plans for the day?"

Yugi shrugged. "Not really. Why – did you?"

Mokuba nodded energetically. "Yup! I've got such _cabin fever_ , and it's only been a day. It's supposed to stop snowing for a few hours later, so….do you wanna build a snowman?"


	5. Frosty the Snowman

/Text/ Spirit to Host

 **/Text/** Host to Spirit

* * *

Chapter 5: _Frosty the Snowman_

"Okay, okay – I can't get my coat and boots on any _faster_ , Mokuba."

"Come _oooon_ ," sighed the younger Kaiba, "There's only a few more hours of daylight left and we gotta get the most of this in before it starts to snow again." He tapped his foot impatiently by the door leading to their covered deck. The wind from the first part of the storm was blowing against the front of the house, so the back patio was somewhat clean, and the steps leading down to the vast backyard was still passable.

Tired of waiting, he threw the door open and skipped outside, leaving the four teenagers behind him to scurry after him. They trudged through the knee-high tundra of white to catch up with their younger friend, finding him standing a good ways from the patio steps looking around.

"This seems like a good spot!"

"There are good and bad spots to building snowmen?" asked Tristan. "It's just packing snow blobs together and drawing on a face. How technical do we have to get?"

Mokuba began gathering snow for his base. "Do whatever you want. _I_ am gonna build a snowman so awesome, Seto will be able to be in awe of it from all the way back at the house."

"I got an idea," said Téa, "Why don't we all build snowmen, and make it some sort of contest!"

"What does the winner get?" asked Tristan. "And who's going to judge the contest? The only one who's not participating is Kaiba, and you know he's not going to be impartial."

Mokuba frowned. None of them could probably pass as an unbiased snowman judge. And what _could_ they offer the winner? If they were all gathered at the mansion back in Domino, there were plenty of things to do – shoot, he could have probably let them sneak peek the new virtual game through the pod in Seto's home lab. But none of those things were at this house. Sure, he had things brought to this place, but they were things that he _and_ Seto liked to do. A few challenging puzzle-type games here and there to peak Seto's interest amidst the sea of platforming games, but that didn't mean that Yugi and the others would be into them.

"Why don't we figure out what we'll win or who will judge _after_ we put some snowmen together?" Yugi shivered. "This is fun, but it's still super-cold out here."

That gave Mokuba an idea. "Oh! I got it!"

"Got what?" asked Joey. He grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and patted it into his snowman.

"Whoever wins the snowman contest has _first dibs_ on the electric blanket once we get back inside. There's only one, and it's huge, but let's face it. No one's gonna want to share."

"You got yourself a deal, short stuff!" said Joey. "This is gonna be the best snowman the world's ever seen!"

Téa giggled. "Looks like a lopsided blob to me!"

Joey threw a snowball at her, though it didn't completely make it to its intended target.

 **/Alright, Pharaoh – ready to get your feet wet?/**

/I – what?/

Yugi quickly shifted control to Yami.

"What the – _YUGI_!"

Joey looked over at the Pharaoh's sudden outburst. "What's the problem, Yug'?"

"I-it's _cold_!"

"Well of course it is, Pharaoh!" Téa laughed, "I bet you've never experienced this before, have you?"

"No," said Yami, "And even if I _could_ remember, we _definitely_ didn't have to worry about this in Egypt."

Yugi snickered from inside his soul room. **/Have fun, Pharaoh!/**

"You think it's cold now, try touching it without your gloves on," said Tristan.

Yami looked down at his half-assembled snowman. "Is that…wise?"

 **/It's not going to hurt you./**

Yami peeled off his glove and tried to form a snowball without it. /Yugi…that's _super_ cold!/ He quickly dropped the snow and shoved his hand back into the glove.

"You know…" Téa said after a while, "There's something almost… _therapeutic_ about all this. I haven't really played in the snow since I was little."

"Yeah," said Tristan, "It's relaxing!" He looked over to the snowman next to him. "How's it going there, Mokuba?"

He blinked. "Mokuba?" Where'd the kid go?

"Over here!" Mokuba waved from the nearest tree. "There are some low branches here you guys can use if you want."

Yami tilted his head. "What are the branches used for?"

"For _arms_ , silly!" Mokuba laughed, "You gotta give your snowman a few touches!"

Yami blinked. "You don't make the arms out of snow as well?"

"You can try, but they won't stay up easily," said Téa, "Usually you use branches for arms, rocks or coal for eyes and so on."

Yami turned back to his snowman and looked at it thoughtfully.

 **/What are you thinking?/**

/I'm thinking…that we're going to win this contest! I have an idea…/

.

* * *

.

"How long have you been out here?"

Roland looked up as Seto carefully crossed the patio and sat down in one of the chairs overlooking the yard.

"About an hour." Roland reached over and passed him the extra thermos he had brought outside. "Apparently they're running a contest to see who could build the best snowman."

"Huh." Seto accepted the coffee and looked out at the five snow blobs. "They could all use some work."

"Well they're not finished yet. I'm supposed to judge the contest."

Seto raised an eyebrow and took a sip of coffee. "You?"

Roland shrugged. "Well, sir, they didn't think you would have an unbiased opinion."

Seto chuckled. "They're probably right. What's the point to this contest anyway?"

"Something about claiming the heated blanket when they go back inside." Roland looked at his watch. "Which will be soon, I imagine."

"JOEY!" They both immediately glanced back towards the others where Tristan's snowman now had a smaller, snowball-shaped dent where its face was supposed to be.

Joey snickered. "Sorry, Trist'! I aimed for _you_."

"Well not only is your aim _garbage,_ but you took out my snowman's handsome face!"

"Hehe, it's not like it had a good one to begin with…."

" _What did you say!?"_

Mokuba discreetly picked up a clump of snow, formed it into a ball and chucked it at Joey. "SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

"Hey – oh, _it's on_!"

Téa squeaked and ducked behind her snowman, "What happened to just building snowmen?"

Yami crouched down next to her. "I think Joey ruined that."

"Ugh. Well, if it's a war, then so be it. Grab some snow, Pharaoh. Let's take him out!"

"Wait!" Yami slid his scarf from around his neck and waved it as a sign of peace. "What about teams?"

Tristan stopped mid-swing. "There's five of us though."

"Yeah, how's that gonna work?" asked Joey. "One team is gonna be stronger than the other."

"How about you and Tristan versus me, Yugi, and Téa?" Mokuba suggested. "There's more of us, but I bet you two have better throwing arms anyway."

Joey lowered his hand from trying to nail Tristan with another snowball. "That don't sound too bad. How about a mini truce to build up a little fort or somethin' and then we start for real?"

"Twenty minutes?" Téa reached into her pocket and set a timer on her cell phone. "And then we fight!"

"You're on!"

Mokuba knelt onto the ground and began to form snowballs as Yami and Téa began forming a wall between their snowmen. "We're _so_ gonna win this!"

"What makes you so sure?" asked Téa.

"We got Yugi on our team, and he's the King of Games!"

"That's for Duel Monsters, Mokuba," said Yami, "I've never fought in a snowball fight before."

"Pssh," Mokuba waved a hand dismissively, "I bet you could beat Joey at _any_ game." He glanced up, saw Seto sitting on the patio with Roland and waved. "Cuz if we don't, Seto won't let you live it down that you got your butt handed to you by someone other than _him_."

"Kaiba's not even participating, so that would hardly be fair," said Yami.

Mokuba pushed his snowball collection to the edge of the wall and began making some more. "I didn't say he would be fair about it."

"Hey!" Tristan called. "You guys ready over there?"

"Just about!" said Téa. She looked at their fort. "Should we have a strategy?"

"Who needs a strategy?" said Mokuba, "Just chuck stuff at the other team and hope you have good aim!"

Movement up on the deck caught Yami's eye. "Mokuba, your brother is trying to get your attention."

Mokuba put down his latest snowball and made his way back up to the patio. "What's up, Seto?"

Yami and Téa watched as Seto whispered something into Mokuba's ear. The boy's eyes lit up and he practically skipped through the snow back to his fort.

"What did he say" asked Yami.

"Seto said we should take out Joey first. He looks way too smug."

Yami peered around Téa's snowman to see Joey and Tristan lounged against a tree with a huge collection of snowballs waiting to be thrown. "I think we're going to need more firepower."

"Yeah. How are those snowballs coming, Mokuba?" asked Téa. "Need help?"

"I got it," said Mokuba. "We're ready when you are!"

"Okay then." Joey grabbed a snowball. "On three…"

"One…" Yami grabbed a snowball in each hand.

"Two…" Tristan crouched in front of the wall.

" _Three!_ "

The two spectators on the deck watched the snow fly across the hastily put together field. Mokuba ducked around one of the trees by their fort and chucked a snowball at Tristan, but it didn't make it anywhere close to the other fort.

"I can't throw far enough," said Mokuba, pouting.

"Don't worry about it," said Téa, ducking a volley of snow from Joey. "Just keep us stocked. Yami and I can probably get ours far enough over."

"We have an advantage," said Yami, "Joey and Tristan might have better throwing arms than any of us, but there are only two of them. They'll have to stop eventually and make more snowballs, and that will leave them vulnerable to attack!"

"Oh….I got you. Then…" Mokuba slid under the safety of their little wall. "I'll just keep rolling snow together…."

"Hey…remind me of the rules we set up again?" said Téa suddenly. There _had_ to be something for Mokuba to do to participate in their little impromptu war other than create ammunition. Rolling snow into a ball only got so interesting.

"I think the only rule is that once you're hit, you can't participate anymore," said Yami, "We really didn't establish anything else, aside from the whole 'no rocks in the snowballs' thing."

"But that _also_ means that we're not limited to our little fort," said Téa, "Hey, Mokuba, how about instead of just hiding down there, we set up a little side mission for you?"

The younger Kaiba's eyes lit up. "I'm listening…"

Meanwhile, Joey ducked and scrambled to make another snowball. "You know, I think we screwed ourselves over. I thought we could take 'em. But they got Mokuba over there makin' them unlimited ammo."

"New strategy?" asked Tristan.

Joey blinked. "We had a strategy?"

"Well, not really. But if Mokuba's just gonna make snowballs, then once we tag him out, it'll be an even playing field," said Tristan, "And since Téa's throws don't always make it, we just have Yugi to worry about."

"Yeah, but the kid's hidin'," said Joey. "I'll try, but I'm gonna go for Yugi. If he can't hit us, we got nuthin to worry about!"

Tristan peered over from behind the wall. "They're awfully quiet over there."

"Yeah…." Joey chucked a snowball over to the other side. "What are they plannin'?"

"Maybe they ran out of snow," Tristan snickered. "You can only form so much snow from behind that dinky little fort."

"Trist', there's _plenty_ of snow out here. But you know…I don't see Mokuba anywhere."

"Maybe he's hiding behind one of those snowmen." Tristan craned his neck around to try and see around but there was a tree in his way.

The next thing either of them knew, they were being pelted from behind.

" _SURPRISE_ _SNEAK ATTACK!"_

"What the – _MOKUBA!"_ Joey whirled around and held his hands up to protect his face as he heard Seto laughing from up on the deck. "What are you doin' over here?"

"No one said we had to stay in the fort! Looks like we win!" said Mokuba smugly.

"Okay, okay, we surrender!" said Tristan, "Just stop hitting me!"

.

* * *

.

The snow began to pick up again not long after everyone retired back into the house. After changing into warm, drier clothes, they regathered back in the living room, huddling near the fireplace.

"I haven't had that much fun in the snow in a long time," said Yugi. "We should do that again sometime."

/That _was_ fun, Yugi. Thank you for letting me experience it./

 **/Anytime, Pharaoh! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!/**

"Yeah, you could build a snow mascot outside the Game Shop," said Joey. He had brought his duel disk out from his suitcase, and was prodding it with a screwdriver he found in a random kitchen drawer.

Seto made his way to the armchair near the fireplace with a book in one hand and froze two steps into the room. "Wheeler…what did you _do_ to that duel disk?"

"There's somethin' wrong with it," said Joey bitterly, "And Tristan _swore_ that he fixed it the last time."

"Like I know anything about fixing a duel disk," Tristan muttered. "Maybe if you didn't _take it everywhere_ , it wouldn't have gotten banged up so much."

"A duelist is always prepared!"

Téa slapped a hand to her forehead. "Joey, we were going to a ski resort. A _ski resort_. Why would you need it there?"

" _A duelist is always prepared, Téa!"_

Seto rolled his eyes, pushed the ottoman over to the armchair with the tip of his cane and sank down into it. He leveled Joey an annoyed look. "Those duel disks are built to last. You must have thrown that thing under a bus."

"Maybe this one's just defective," Joey sniffed.

Seto snorted and opened his book. "Hardly. I personally tested the entire first wave of disks. Considering you weaseled your way to one during Battle City registration, it's much more likely you did something stupid to it."

"Yeah – like get it confiscated at school every other day," said Tristan. "And then wonder why it doesn't work when you finally get it back."

"Shut up, Tristan!"

"Hey guys…" Mokuba poked his head around the doorway. "I found a game to play while dinner is in the oven."

"Is it another racing game, cuz I haven't gotten the hang of the last one," said Joey.

"No…." Mokuba brought his hands out from where they were hidden behind his back. "It's…Monopoly!"

"Oh no – not that," said Tristan, "You know what they say about that game – it's a friendship ruiner!"

"Then by all means," said Seto sardonically, turning the page of his book. "I'll get popcorn."

"Kaiba!" Téa drew the blanket around her shoulders closer to her body. "The game's not _that_ bad."

"So you guys wanna play? There's six pieces – enough that _all_ of us could play." Mokuba looked pointedly at his brother. "Cuz there's _six_ of us."

"I don't think so, Mokuba."

"Oh, _come on_ , Seto," Mokuba whined, "It's not that bad of a game. We can even set a time limit, otherwise it'll never end."

"It would be an unfair advantage and therefore not a challenge."

"It's a _board game_ , Kaiba, not Duel Monsters. Monopoly is won on luck from a dice roll. It's not really strategy based," said Téa.

"Oh, well in that case," said Seto, finally looking up from his book. "Wheeler should excel at this game. After all, luck is how he wins _all_ of his duels." He ignored the glare Joey sent his way before continuing. "The answer is still no."

"Please, Seto?" Mokuba propped his elbows up next to Seto's ankles on the ottoman. " _Pleeease?"_

"You told me I wasn't allowed to work on this vacation."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Buying and trading fake properties is _not_ the same as your office work and you know it. That was a really weak argument, even from you, Seto."

Seto sighed and leaned his head back against the chair. "I'll _bank_ under one condition."

"What's that?" asked Yugi.

"I make the rules."

"Okay!" Mokuba eagerly held the box out with both hands. "Here you go!"

Seto took the box from his brother and set it on the table beside his chair. He eased his foot back off the ottoman and set the board down onto it instead. "I'm not getting up, so you'll have to play on that for a table."

"Alright," said Téa, scooting over. She didn't really need to be so close to the fireplace anymore, not since Yugi passed her the electric blanket.

"So…what are the special rules for Monopoly in the Kaiba house?" said Yugi curiously.

"For one thing, this is a two hour game – don't expect me to sit here longer than that."

"Well, dinner should be ready in about two hours or so, so that seems fair," said Téa.

"Two: I choose your tokens."

Joey groaned. "Great, I'm gonna end up the dog, aren't I?"

Seto reached for the baggie of player pieces and poured them out into his palm. "Actually, no, Wheeler. _This_ one seems more fitting."

Joey looked down at the piece held out to him. "The car? _Sweet_!" Frowning, he looked from the car to his best friend's rival. "There's a jab at me in there somewhere, isn't there?"

"Well you handled the _last_ car well enough."

" _It was a deer!"_

Smirking, Seto reached for the battleship token and passed it to Yugi, the top hat to Téa, the dog to Tristan, and the shoe to Mokuba.

"Three: any taxes or playing card fees go to the center of the board, and the first to land on 'Free Parking' gets all of it. However, this _can_ be revoked at my discretion if the bank runs low on money."

"We sort of do that at home too," said Téa, "I like that rule. At least, the first part, anyways."

"And finally, any and all business advice costs $200."

Tristan snorted. "What?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "It's his way of saying don't take forever to decide what to buy or trade or he's gonna charge you for wasting time."

"Alrighty then," Joey rubbed his hands together as the colored bills were passed around. "Loser gets no dessert at dinner, which is a shame, because I found _cheesecake_ in the fridge!"

Téa laughed. "Good luck holding _that_ up, but let's do this!"

* * *

 _A/N: Monopoly is owned by Hasbro. There are so many variations of that game out in the wild, it felt almost shameful to have to Google what the classic tokens were._

 _One more chapter to go!_


	6. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

_A/N: Sorry for the short delay. There were a lot of issues trying to get this chapter into the Doc Manager this evening. Hope you all enjoy, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all!_

/Text/ Spirit to Host

 **/Text/** Host to Spirit

* * *

Chapter 6: _Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree_

"…And that roll landed you on New York Ave, so with the hotels, _and_ the IOU from the _last_ round, that brings your total to $1500," said Yugi. "You're almost out of money there, Joey."

"I still got some cash thanks to the tax pot in the middle of the board, remember?" said Joey, handing over a stack of colored bills. "All I gotta do is make it around GO, and I'm free as a bird!"

"Uh huh," said Téa, "But you have to make it past Mokuba's yellow houses and my blue hotels."

"It was nice knowing you, buddy," said Tristan, patting Joey on the shoulder. He was the first eliminated, forfeiting his properties to Yugi the moment he rolled himself out of Jail and onto the orange spaces.

"What the heck, Tristan, I'm not out of this yet!"

"Well…it's my turn," said Yugi, taking the die. "Hm…a chance card!" Yugi picked up the top card from the deck and read the description on the back, his face falling into a frown.

"Someone didn't get a good card," Mokuba snickered.

"Property taxes. Ugh."

"Awesome, that means all your wealth is going into the tax pot and is up for the taking!" Joey cheered. "Lucky dice roll, _here I come_!"

"I don't think so," Seto held out his hand. "Free Parking privileges have now been revoked."

"WHAT!" Joey crossed his arms. " _Why?_ "

"Banker's privilege," said Seto sarcastically, "It's time to redistribute the wealth. The ridiculous amount of luck that has been passed around this game is bleeding the bank dry."

Téa sighed. "And I was getting close to Free Parking, too."

Yugi counted out most of his money and passed it sadly up to Seto. "Here you go."

"Well…it's my turn now." Mokuba looked out at the board and turned nervously to Joey. "You think you can infuse some of your natural luck to me for this?"

"What? No way, Mokuba, this is _Monopoly_. Every man for himself!"

Mokuba pouted and rolled the die. "Uh oh."

"Welcome to Boardwalk, Mokuba!" Téa said eagerly, "That'll be $2000."

Mokuba hung his head. "Well...my houses aren't gonna sell for enough. I'm out." He handed her his money and property cards. "It's down to three now!"

Joey looked at his dice roll. " _Phew_. Landed on a railroad."

"Lucky," said Téa. "Although, since Yugi just forked over most of his money to the bank, it looks like I'm in the lead!"

"Anything can happen Téa," said Yugi.

"I'm surprised you've made it this far, Yug'," said Joey, "You got all the cheap properties."

Yugi smiled. "But they're all developed and you guys keep landing on them. They may not charge more than $1000, but the entire first half of the board is a landmine. That's why I can keep landing on Téa's stuff and afford to pay it."

"But you also just coughed up half your money to Kaiba," said Tristan. "Are you going to make it to GO?"

Yugi shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Nice, a Get out of Jail Free card!" Téa grinned. "Bet you wish you had something like that when you were still in the game, huh Tristan?"

"Yeaaah, maybe just a little."

Two complete rounds passed before the timer on Seto's cell phone went off. He sighed, reaching into his pocket to silence it. "Game's over. Value your properties at their current worth. Jail free cards are $100 each."

Yugi and Téa immediately began organizing and counting up their earnings. Joey stretched out on the floor instead and tucked his hands behind his head.

"What about you, Joey?" asked Mokuba. "Don't you want to know how you did?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "I don't got _nearly_ enough to come close to those two. My bet's on Téa."

Yugi finished counting up his money and properties and looked over at Téa. "$8750."

Téa held up her hands, defeated. "You win, but not by much! I was about two hundred under."

"Finally, this game's over," said Tristan. He helped to gather the pieces together to go back into the box. "I'm _starving!_ "

.

* * *

"You know…I'm surprised there's no tree anywhere," said Joey, after dinner. "You wanted to celebrate everythin' like how they do in America, but you're missin' the most important part!"

Mokuba frowned. "I guess I figured there would be one of those artificial ones around here somewhere. But the house staff couldn't find it."

"We could look for it in the morning," said Téa. "Five heads are better than one."

"Six."

Mokuba turned to his brother. "Are you going to help us search?"

"I haven't decided. But Roland has the keys to the basement and to the attic access. If you're going to find a tree, it'll probably be in one of those places." His eyes caught Joey's continued attempt to work on his duel disk and he had to internally wince at every time he turned the screws in and out. The mutt was probably doing more damage to it trying to fix whatever the problem was rather than leave it alone or seek out one of the retail shops that also covered repairs. Sighing, he picked up his book and got up from the couch.

"Where are you going, Seto?"

"To the study for the night. And if you _don't_ mind…" Seto glanced over, annoyed, at Joey and Tristan, "If you're going to have pool tournaments or freak out like a pair of sissies with that zombie show you were watching yesterday, keep the noise down. Some of us were _trying_ to sleep last night."

"Sorry, man," said Tristan, "Not my fault Joey can't handle fake zombies."

Joey put down the screwdriver and crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey, it brought back memories of Duelist Kingdom, okay?"

Téa rolled her eyes. "Bonz's zombie monsters really weren't all that scary. The cave, maybe, but it was spooky on purpose."

"It was a terrible experience, okay! And you could hear us from all the way upstairs?"

"Seto's room is connected to the study," Mokuba explained as his brother left the room, "So you were essentially being rowdy right next to him. I'm surprised he didn't come out and yell at you. Try not to do it again."

"Eh. Your brother needs to have fun once in a while," said Joey. "I bet I'd wipe the floor with him at the pool table."

Mokuba snorted. " _Sure_ , Joey."

"So…anyone want to watch a movie? They're playing a loop of holiday flicks on here," said Téa.

"Hey look," Joey teased as they perused the channels, and paused at the listing for a Grinch movie. "It's Kaiba!"

"That 'Grinch' was awfully nice to let you in, you know," Mokuba muttered, "Oh! _Christmas Vacation_! Let's watch _that_!"

Tristan raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you kind of… _young_ to be watching that?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Why, cuz there's adult themes and swearing in it? _Please_ , I've heard way worse at Kaiba Corp – and _not_ from my brother. You'd be surprised what some people think they can get away with saying to him just because they're twice his age or more. …Or what some of them say behind his back when they think they're not being overheard." He shuddered.

"The TV channels probably censored half the movie anyway," said Joey, "Takes all the fun out of watching."

"Well…I think I'm going to head to bed early too," said Téa. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Don't forget I'm making pancakes tomorrow," said Tristan, "If you want some before Joey eats _all_ of them, you gotta get up early!"

Yugi laughed. "Right, because we're all such late risers anyway."

Mokuba giggled, "Compared to Seto, you _all_ are!"

Tristan's warning to get up early or not have breakfast turned out to be unneeded as Joey ended up being the last one to get up the following morning. Mokuba, Tristan, and Roland were the only ones still in the kitchen when he finally surfaced.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Mokuba teased. "We ate _all_ the pancakes. You snooze, you lose!"

"They're not _all_ gone, you little liar," said Joey, snatching the bright red Santa hat from Mokuba's head, "I can see more in the pan."

"Those are mine," Roland deadpanned, not looking up from reading the news on his tablet. Joey almost had to do a double-take. He had never seen Kaiba's bodyguard in anything other than the black suit and sunglasses. The casual sweater look was just weird on him.

"Haven't seen you around much, where have you been hiding?"

"Around," said Roland. "It's nice and quiet on the other side of the house – or, at least it _was_ , until someone was screaming bloody murder over a cartoon."

Mokuba nearly choked on his bite. "I thought you said you freaked out over a zombie show. You were really scared from an _animated_ series?"

"Shut up, kid!"

Mokuba stuck his tongue out. "Nuh uh – and hey, gimme back my hat!"

"Nah – that's what you get for teasin' me all the time!"

"Oh, _come on!"_

"Nope – hey!" Roland plucked the hat out of Joey's grip and handed it back to Mokuba.

"Yay, thanks!"

Roland took a sip of his coffee and accepted the plate Tristan offered him. "I didn't realize I was sharing the house with more than one child."

Joey sighed and sat down at the table, arms crossed. "Don't tell me you're gonna gang up on me, too! I pegged you to be neutral!"

Roland shook his head. "I'm afraid I am not as impartial as you hope me to be."

Mokuba swung his legs energetically around in his seat. "Are you gonna help us find a Christmas tree today?"

"Mr. Kaiba did mention something along those lines earlier, though I'm not sure if one exists. You might have better luck cutting down one of the ones in the yard."

Tristan waved the spatula around. "We _could_ …"

"…But you won't," said Roland, "That's far too much effort, and Mr. Kaiba can't stand the mess they make. It almost doesn't seem worth it to set one up so late into the season as it is. After all, Christmas is _tomorrow_. By the time you finish decorating, it will be time to take the tree back down."

Mokuba shrugged. "All for the fun of it!"

Joey drummed his fingers against the table and looked around. "Where's Yugi and Téa, anyway?"

"They went off with Mr. Kaiba to search the basement," said Roland. "We will look through the attic." He leveled a hard glare at them. "We are to look for an artificial tree. Do _not_ go poking through any of the other items stored up there."

"Kaiba don't want us to find where he hid the bodies, huh?"

Mokuba waved his fork at Joey. "There are a lot of memories in this house, and some of them were from before we were even adopted. He doesn't want to go digging around this stuff more than he wants you guys to. But since Christmas is tomorrow, we're running out of time to find a tree, so we're gonna have to split up to search for it."

It took the majority of the morning, but Téa managed to find a small artificial tree down in the depths of the basement.

"House staff must have used this," Seto had said once they managed to get it upstairs and into the living room. "Gozaburo would have had a real tree brought in if he was entertaining."

"It sure is dusty," Joey blew some of it off while adjusting the branches on it, setting off a small grey cloud into the air.

Mokuba sneezed. "Gee, thanks."

Roland entered the room a short while later with an equally dusty box in his arms. "You might want these. There are garlands and perhaps a string of lights in here. I didn't open it, but it was the only box in the attic marked for this holiday."

Yugi reached for his arm when he started to walk out of the room. "Wait – do you want to help us decorate the tree?"

Roland looked taken back. "I-I wouldn't want to intrude."

Mokuba beamed. "Help us, Roland! You don't have to hide the entire time!"

"A-alright." He broke the seal on the box and began hauling a knotted strand of small white lights out of it.

"Yeesh, I don't want to be the one to undo that mess," said Joey. "Noes goes!"

Mokuba and Tristan immediately placed their finger on their nose. "Not us!"

Téa rolled her eyes. "Seriously, guys. You don't _have_ to use everything. We'll leave those lights off the tree. It's not like this thing is super big anyways."

Mokuba reached into the box and pulled out a box of glittery ornaments. "This doesn't strike me as anything Gozaburo would have gotten. They're way too bright and sparkly."

Seto looked down at them and scowled. They were extremely gaudy. "I imagine he took no part in decorating anything. It was probably his wife or they paid someone to decorate for them."

"Do you want to hang anything on the tree, Seto?" asked Mokuba. "There's still some tinsel left."

Seto shook his head and patted the top of the small box next to him from his seat on the ottoman. "Just this will do."

Mokuba tilted his head. "What's that?"

"Something for the tree."

"Aren't you going to put it on?" asked Yugi, leaning around from his spot on the floor. He tried to get a peek at what was in the box, but there was no way to see inside.

"When you're finished."

"So…" said Téa conversationally, "I saw enough ingredients while poking through the kitchen that we could do some baking after this. What do you say guys? Cookies?"

"COOKIES!" Mokuba pumped his fists into the air. " _Yes!"_

"Are you going to set some out on a plate for when you go to bed tonight?" asked Tristan.

Mokuba snorted. "Heck no. I'm gonna eat 'em! I may only be eleven, but come on now. Santa's not real."

Joey feigned a look of hurt and put his hand over his heart. "Oh no – my childhood dreams, and that of every other kid, shattered! Whatever will those little tykes do knowin' that some overweight guy in a red suit ain't gonna come down their fireplaces tonight and leave them presents?"

"If they could stomach the tooth fairy being complete bull, then they'll get over it," said Seto. "No one could drop gifts under every tree in every celebrating country in one night."

"That's because it's _magic_ ," said Tristan, making twinkling motions with his fingers. "You have to _believe_!"

Seto rolled his eyes.

"Well…this thing's just about done," said Yugi, scooting back a bit to take a look at the entire tree. The knot of lights stayed in the box, but they managed to find a few garlands to drape around. The least gaudy of all of the ornaments were scattered around the branches. "All it needs is a star at the top!"

"There was no star in the box," said Roland. "The only thing left are the lights."

"I wonder if it's buried in the lights. Who wants to start to detangle?" asked Tristan.

"That won't be necessary." Seto took the lid off of his box and removed the tissue to reveal a glimmering crystal dragon nestled inside. He got up and carefully placed the topper on the tree. The dragon's scales caught the light in the room, and the two sapphire eyes gave off a glow as if they were lit by light bulbs.

"That's so pretty!" said Téa.

"That's so… _Kaiba_ ," said Joey.

.

* * *

.

Seto sleepily opened his eyes the next morning to a wild mane of black hair inches from his face.

"Wake up, Seto! Wake up! It's Christmas Day! We gotta open presents!"

Seto tried to ignore the dull ache in his knee and ankle as he rolled over. "What makes you think there's anything under that tree?" he mumbled into his pillow.

"Cuz I looked before coming in here," said Mokuba, "And you always get me something for Christmas."

Without looking, Seto reached blindly over for his phone and checked the time. "It's only 6am. Why are you so awake?"

" _Because it's Christmas, Seto!"_

"That's hardly a valid answer." Seto dropped his head back onto his pillow. " _Some of us_ only got to bed a few hours ago."

Mokuba slid off the bed and skipped towards the door. "That's not _my_ fault that you can't go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Everyone else is already awake too, I made sure of that." He flipped the light switch and watched his brother jerk his head to the side and squint against the sudden light in the room. " _Come on!_ I already started the coffee pot, just for you! And I got out your _big_ mug, cuz you look like you're gonna need it."

"Christmas morning with the Friendship Brigade on not even three hours of sleep. I'm gonna need to a lot more than one cup for this," Seto muttered as he shoved back the blankets. "Give me five minutes to get dressed."

"Nope!" Mokuba tossed a robe onto the bed. "You're already wearing pajamas. Grab a robe like the rest of us and just come on out! It's a present-opening pajama party!" Once he was sure his brother had sat up and wasn't going to flop back down, he threw open the door and bounced out.

Seto sighed and shoved his arm through the sleeve of his bathrobe, pulling down the cuff of his shirt from where it got bunched inside. " _Definitely_ need more than one cup for this."

"Took you long enough, Kaiba," Joey teasingly when Seto finally made his way into the living room, "You just _had_ to get coffee and make us wait, huh?"

Seto scowled at him. "All the coffee in the _world_ wouldn't be enough to prepare me to deal with you before the sun is up, Wheeler."

"This _is_ kind of early," said Tristan.

Yugi made room on the couch for Seto to sit down. "Once Mokuba wakes up Christmas morning, that's it – going back to sleep is no longer an option, and if he's going to be on a mood high, then he's going to drag the rest of us with him."

"Actually, you guys got off lucky," said Mokuba matter-of-factly, "I was up at _five_."

"Geezuz, kid, don't you sleep?"

"NOPE!" The younger Kaiba plopped down next to the tree and began hauling packages out from under it. "Okay…so these _can't_ all be for me. Did you guys bring presents for each other to your resort?"

"That was the plan, I guess," said Téa. "I was, at least, so I guess we were all on that wavelength."

"Okay, cool," said Mokuba. He flipped a tag over and passed it to Téa. "Here you go. I think that one's from Joey."

"It's from me and Yugi too," said Tristan, "We all pooled for it."

"Ooh, it's a little heavy, whatever this is." Téa unwrapped the paper. "Oh, a dance off game! This reminds me of the one in the arcade!"

"It is, sort of," said Yugi, "It plugs into the TV directly so you don't need a special console to play on it. You can play by yourself, or with a partner. There's a second dance mat in the box."

"Oh, thanks guys! Maybe we can try it out later!" Téa got up and hugged her friends, "This looks like so much fun!"

"You're welcome, Téa!" said Yugi.

"Alright, kid, who's next?"

"Uh…Yugi!" Mokuba scooted across the floor and passed a thin package to Yugi.

Yugi felt the box in his hands and laughed. "I know what _this_ is!"

/I can tell also. They're Duel Monsters cards!/

"Oh, it's the new set that came out," said Yugi, examining the art on the package, "I haven't been able to read up on this set too much, so I have no idea what cards are inside. This will _really_ be a surprise!"

"Go on, open it," said Tristan. "Let's see if you got anything good."

The box had ten packs inside. "Some good spellcaster support, and a few good fusion monsters too! Thanks you guys!"

"You're welcome," Téa smiled.

"So…this one – _oh_! This is your gift, Seto!" Mokuba jumped up from the floor and handed his brother a very small box. "The IT guys helped me with it…so if they seemed a bit, uh…suspicious and sneaky lately, you know why."

"I was wondering why they had the 'deer in the headlights' look for the last few weeks." Seto placed his coffee on the table and accepted the small box. "Mokuba, this feels like there's nothing in it."

"Well you gotta open it." Mokuba propped his elbows up on his brother's good leg.

Inside the box on a navy blue cushion was a pin just smaller than the size of the "KC" sewn into the collar of his Battle City coat. It was in the shape of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but the position of the dragon's wings and claws formed a similar "KC" insignia.

"You were always saying how helpful that pager thing was that you had sewn into your trench coat," Mokuba explained, "But since you don't really wear your flashy coats anymore…"

Seto carefully set the pin back into the cushion and ruffled his brother's unruly hair. "Thank you, Mokuba."

Mokuba beamed. "It'll work anywhere in the building, too. Roland and I tested it the other day. He was able to hear me from down in the third basement level while I was up in your office! Aaaand…" he tapped the box. "It can connect with your phone too! Isn't that neat?"

"That sounds really cool, Mokuba," said Téa.

"I'll have to test it out when we go back to the office," said Seto. "Thank you."

Mokuba pumped his fist into the air. " _Yes_! You are _super_ hard to gift to, you know that?"

After unwrapping a new motorbike helmet for Tristan, a remote-controlled drone for Mokuba, and a new box of Duel Monsters cards for Joey, Téa noticed a package still under the tree. "Hey, there's still something left that's unaccounted for."

"That's weird," said Yugi, "Everyone got their present already."

Joey snickered and gestured to Roland, who had been sitting in the armchair by the fire, silently nursing his coffee cup the entire time. "It's gotta be for you, man. It's your holiday bonus – Kaiba's enrolling all his guys in the 'Jelly of the Month' club!"

Seto rubbed at his temples as Roland chuckled. "No, Mr. Wheeler. The company bonuses have already gone out to the employees. Besides, that box has _your_ name on it."

"Huh?" Mokuba darted back to the tree. "He's right – but you guys already gave out your presents, and we didn't plan on you all being here with us to get you anything. I wonder who gifted it to you?"

"Well, let's find out!" Joey held out his hands. There was no other name on it to indicate the sender. "Wrapping paper confetti, here we come!"

He tore the paper off the box, frowned, looked about the room, and then back at the box. "What the – is that…"

"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Kaiba…" Joey looked around the room again, back at the box, and then to Seto. "Did…did you just put my duel disk in a box?"

Seto merely raised an eyebrow and took a sip of coffee.

Joey pulled it out of the box and looked it over. "It's got all my scuff marks on it, all right…I don't get it." He turned it over in his hands and froze. One of the small plates on the back of the device didn't have the same wear and tear marks as the rest of it. In fact, it looked almost _new_. His jaw dropped as he looked up at Seto. "Did you _fix_ it?"

Seto leaned back against the couch pillows. "Watching you attempt to dismantle it was _painful_ , Wheeler. Do both myself and your disk a favor – stop taking it to school."

Joey was flabbergasted. "I – but – you –"

"The chip that reads the card data was damaged beyond the surface scratches, probably from your continued manhandling of it."

"I –"

"Break it again, and you're on your own," said Seto stiffly, "This was a _one-time_ thing."

"I… _thanks_ , man…I'm….wow."

Mokuba cheered. "Merry Christmas, Joey!"

* * *

.

The phone call arrived late in the afternoon, as Téa was wiping the floor against Mokuba in the new dance off game. Mokuba collapsed back onto the carpet in a fit of exhausted giggles as the scores tallied up onto the screen, hers still calculating long after his shameful number stopped on his half of the grid.

"I concede," he sighed. "Oh boy that was intense!"

Téa laughed. "That was the easy level!"

Mokuba shook his head. "I've never really played games like these. We can all see I'm not good at them."

"Pssh, man you're more coordinated than me," said Tristan.

Seto walked back into the room and pocketed his phone. "That was the grounds staff. Public road crews made it to the gate, and your car was towed to an on-call mechanic to check for damages."

"It was only a rental," said Tristan.

"Even so, the private clean-up crew is working on the driveway in. Once your car comes back, you'll be set to go."

"Wow," said Téa, "That's a lot quicker than I thought it was going to be. I figured we would be snowed in here for a lot longer – not that I'm complaining of course."

"It's just too bad we won't be able to go on that ski trip after all," said Joey. "The check-in period's gone by now."

"There will be other times, Joey," said Yugi, "Think of it this way – we got to spend the holidays with each other, and that's the important thing, not where we did it."

"You're right, Yug'. And just think, if we didn't get lost and nearly run over a deer, we never would have had that crazy snowball fight, or lose spectacularly in that racing game, or end up getting my disk fixed! See, this is why a duelist always gotta be prepared!"

"You would probably have been able to do _some_ of those things, just not with us," said Mokuba, "But that's okay. We _all_ had fun, and that's the most important part to me!"

The rental made it back up to the front steps of the mansion as the sun was beginning to set. Roland began loading their belongings back into the trunk as Yugi pulled Seto aside.

"Before _you_ say anything, Kaiba," Yugi began, "I just wanted to thank you… _again_ , for letting us stay and ride out the storm. I know this wasn't the ideal scenario for you and Mokuba to spend holidays, and I'm sorry we kind of intruded on your peace and quiet."

Seto shook his head. "As far as I can tell, your initial unwanted presence actually helped distract Mokuba. In my eyes, you all did what I was incapable of, and it gave Mokuba the best holiday vacation he's had in _years_. For _that,_ you have my gratitude."

"Hey, Yug'!" Joey called from the car. "You comin'?"

"Be right there!" He turned back to his rival. "And I know that he's already stuttered it out a couple of times already today, but thank you for fixing Joey's duel disk. He was getting concerned he would have to get a new one soon, and he's been really attached to his original one."

"Hn. Call it my good deed for the year."

"I don't know how we – or even Joey – can repay you for this."

Seto chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "You want to do something in return? The next time you find yourself in some ridiculous mess again – leave me out of it. This past year was nothing but soul-stealing, mind-controlling lunatics and stupid hacker incidents. There's only so much of that nonsense I can take. So when you find your next supervillain of the week, try to keep me off their radar."

Yugi laughed and hoisted his bag over his shoulder. "I'll try, but it seems I don't go looking for trouble – trouble finds both of us!"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Try _hard_."

Mokuba appeared in the doorway as Yugi opened the door to the backseat. "Bye guys! Safe journey home, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Mokuba!" Yugi waved.

Mokuba didn't stop waving until the car had moved the entirety through the driveway circle and out of sight. He looked up at his brother. "Do you think they'll make it back to Domino okay?"

Seto shrugged and turned to go back inside. "So long as they get through the gate, it's not our problem anymore."

"Well, that didn't sound very reassuring."

"Consider Tristan Taylor is a terrible map-reader, I wouldn't trust him behind the wheel. But I suppose it's better than Wheeler."

"Well, Téa's reading the map, so that's points for them, right?"

"Anything's better than Wheeler/Taylor duo."

Mokuba followed his brother back into the kitchen where Seto placed his mug under his Keurig machine. "You know…I'm glad your leg is feeling better and all, but maybe it was some kind of fate that they got lost and ended up here. It made things a little better around the house since you were laid up those first two or so days."

"They ended up here out of dumb luck, which Wheeler has in abundance," said Seto.

Mokuba shrugged. "Still," he said as Seto raised his now steaming cup to his lips. "I had a lot of fun. Maybe we can make a tradition out of it. How about next year we invite them to the main house for the holidays?"

Seto nearly choked on his drink.

Mokuba laughed. " _Sorry,_ sorry, I was kidding." He rushed forward and hugged his brother around his middle. "I'm glad we were able to do this though. Merry Christmas, Seto!"

Seto ruffled Mokuba's hair and embraced him back. "Merry Christmas, Mokuba."

- _End-_


End file.
